Shipbuilders say world's largest cruise liner has been launched into water

Shipshape

Finnish ... but not finished

Finnish shipbuilders say the world's largest cruise liner has been launched into water for the first time. Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas will be completed within a year before sailing to Miami. The ship was floated out Friday at a Turku shipyard dry dock. It has 16 passenger decks with 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 3,000 crew. It is 1,200 feet long and has an open-air arena the size of a football field. Special features include a theater modeled on an ancient Greek amphitheater and a skating rink.

Party time

Stars come out in Dubai

Dubai defied the economic crisis this week as stars flocked to South African billionaire Sol Kerzner's Atlantis resort for a $20 million party that included the world's largest fireworks display dazzling enough to be seen from space and a performance by pop singer Kylie Minogue. The 2,000 guests of the Atlantis, on a man-made island in the shape of a palm tree, were treated to a Champagne reception and an "Atlantean Feast" and danced the warm night away. "I love Dubai, I love the architecture," former basketball star Michael Jordan said.

Today in History

1718: English pirate Edward Teach — better known as Blackbeard — was killed during a battle off the Virginia coast.

1935: A flying boat, the China Clipper, took off from Alameda, Calif., carrying more than 100,000 pieces of mail on the first trans-Pacific airmail flight.

1963: President Kennedy was shot to death while riding in a motorcade in Dallas.

1990: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation.

Today's Birthdays

Director Arthur Hiller, 85. Actor Robert Vaughn, 76. Actor Richard Kind, 52. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, 50. Actor Mark Ruffalo, 41. Actress Scarlett Johansson, 24.

Seattle Times news services